We live in a time of extremes. Obesity is on the rise, but so are eating disorders. Here are some things relating to bodies, the psychology behind our perception of them, and how we’re dealing with it all.

- – -

Canadian cover model Coco Rocha speaks out against the damaging practices of the fashion industry:

“I’m a 21 year old model, 6 inches taller and 10 sizes smaller than the average American woman. Yet in another parallel universe I’m considered ‘fat’…”

“Surely, we all see how morally wrong it is for an adult to convince an already thin 15 year old that she is actually too fat. It is unforgivable that an adult should demand that the girl unnaturally lose the weight vital to keep her body functioning properly. How can any person justify an aesthetic that reduces a woman or child to an emaciated skeleton? Is it art? Surely fashion’s aesthetic should enhance and beautify the human form, not destroy it.”

Lauren Greenfield’s shocking photos of girls and women suffering from anorexia, from her movie, photos, and book, all titled THIN. Here is a before and after of a young girl who checked in to a rehab center:

+++

Kevin Smith was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight because of his size.

Jamie Oliver was awarded the $100,000 TED prize for his efforts to fight obesity. His TV series, “Food Revolution,” will air on ABC starting March 26.

Michelle Obama launched the Let’s Move campaign against childhood obesity.

Posting calories on Starbucks drinks did not have an effect on eating habits.

Ralph Lauren retouched their models to be impossibly thin, and fired one of them for allegedly being overweight.

Action for Healthy Kids, a four-star charity that addresses both childhood undernourishment and obesity.